You’ve read about guaranteed issue life insurance and have a loved one under age 40. You think it might be a good fit for him or her.

Or, maybe you yourself are under age 40 and know that a guaranteed issue life insurance policy would work better for you in your circumstances.

You inquire about it, and the carrier or agent says that guaranteed issue life insurance for someone under age 40 is not available. They say you have to wait until age 40 or 50. You feel dejected.

No worries, though. We have many guaranteed issue life insurance plans that are available for people under age 40.

Note that the guaranteed issue life insurance market significantly changed back in early December 2022. A carrier that offered guaranteed issue whole life insurance for people under the age of 40 no longer does so.

But, as we indicated, we still have many options for you and/or your loved ones.

In this article, we will:

• Give A Brief Overview Of What Guaranteed Life Insurance Is
• List The 6 Guaranteed Issue Life Options
• Options Categorized By Age
• Other Options Instead Of Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance
• Final Thoughts About Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance

(Watch an abridged version of this article in 4:07)

We give you a brief overview of guaranteed issue life insurance next.

What Is Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance?

Guaranteed issue life insurance is just how it sounds. The carrier guarantees policy approval.

We wrote about guaranteed issue life insurance in more detail. Feel free to check the article out.

That means there are no health questions to answer. The carrier does not look up your application history through the MIB or look up your prescription drug history.

All you do is fill out an application, pay the first month’s premium, and you then have life insurance.

It’s that simple. How does that sound?

While that all sounds great, there are some drawbacks to guaranteed issue life insurance.

The first is guaranteed issue life insurance is more expensive than a comparable underwritten policy. The reason is that there is no underwriting. The carrier charges more because it does not know the mortality risk of the applicants.

Since the carrier doesn’t know the level of risk, it implements a waiting period on the death benefit. The waiting period is usually 2 or 3 years, depending on the carrier. If you die within the waiting period by sickness or other natural cause, then the carrier pays your beneficiary the premiums you paid during that time frame plus interest.

After the waiting period, then the carrier pays the death benefit 100% in full.

If your death is from an accident, the carrier pays the death benefit 100%, even in the first 2 years.

Usually, you can purchase up to $25,000 in life insurance. Typically, the life insurance is whole life insurance.

Additionally, many carriers that offer guaranteed issue life insurance for people 50 or older. Only a few carriers offer it for ages 40 and under.

Let’s talk about these options next.

Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance For People Under Age 40

As I discussed earlier, the under-40 guaranteed issue life insurance market has changed. One popular carrier terminated its guaranteed issue plan which served the 0 to 85 market. So, it could serve the 0 to age 39 market well.

The reason this carrier pulled out and not many carriers serve the under 40 market are due to actuarial risk.

Nevertheless, there are still options.

Generally, though, these options require the parent to apply and be approved for life insurance. The parent can apply for a small death benefit policy.

Here are your options. We will update accordingly as plans change.

(1) The parent applies and approves for whole life insurance. The parent can then apply for $15,000 of whole life insurance on a child from age 0 to 17 at guaranteed issue. No waiting period.

(2) A small term life insurance policy. The parent can apply for a child from ages 0 to 25 at guaranteed issue, not convertible. Up to $10,000 death benefit. No waiting period.

(3) Term life insurance policy on the parent. The parent can apply for a guaranteed issue child rider for up to $10,000 (convertible) from ages 0 to 17. No waiting period.

(4) Up to $10,000 (depending on age) of whole life insurance. Ages 0 to 39. POA or guardianship form allowed for insureds over age 18 provided the forms contain the proper, legal verbiage (contact us). No waiting period currently.

(5) Guaranteed term life insurance, up to $50,000 of term to age 80. People ages 18 to 64. You can self-enroll here. Rates are fixed for the first 5 years and then increase based on age bands. No POA or guardianship form is required. 2-year waiting period.

(6) Another guaranteed issue term policy for those who are gainfully employed only. Term to age 80, but the death benefit cuts 50% at age 65.

These guaranteed issue life insurance options are not available in every state. They are also subject to change at any time. Please contact us or use the form at the end of this article if you have questions.

Who Can Use This Life Insurance?

Many people of all ages. Children and adults who have:

(1) AIDS/HIV

(2) Muscular dystrophy

(3) cancer

(4) illegal drug use

(5) alcohol abuse

(6) Huntington’s disease

(7) cerebral palsy

(8) a disability that prevents full-time employment

(9) Kidney disease

(10) Cirrhosis / severe liver disease

(11) Alzheimer’s / dementia

(12) ALS

(13) severe heart ailments

(14) severe respiratory ailments

(15) Down syndrome

(16) Autism

(17) severe nervous disorders

(18) mental incapacity

(19) people taking suboxone

The list goes on and on…

As discussed earlier, we are always on the lookout for guaranteed issue plans. If we come across additional plans, we will update this article accordingly.

Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance Application Process

Life insurance application processes are so much easier than they were back in the early to mid- 2000s.

Most times, you don’t need a paramedical exam or blood/urine sample.

Nowadays, carriers need an application and then they look up your information in various databases including the MIB, prescription drug history, and MVR.

We can then apply.

As for your child or young adult, since it is a guaranteed issue process, we would just need his or her date of birth and gender.

Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance Under Age 40 Categorized By Age

Here are the options categorized by age, for ease. If you have any questions, just let us know.

Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance For Ages 0 To 17

• Parent applies and approves for whole life insurance. The parent can then apply for $15,000 of whole life insurance on child from age 0 to 17 at guaranteed issue. No waiting period.
• Small term life policy, can apply for a child from ages 0 to 25 at guaranteed issue, not convertible. No waiting period.
• Term life insurance policy on parent, can apply for a guaranteed issue child rider for up to $10,000 (convertible) from ages 0 to 17. No waiting period.
• Up to $10,000 (depending on age) of whole life insurance. No waiting period currently.

Did you notice a trend with the guaranteed issue options available to those age 0 to 17? There is no waiting period. The reason why is that the parent applies for a policy for him or herself and goes through the underwriting process.

Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance For Ages 18 To 39

• Small term life policy, can apply for a child from ages 0 to 25 at guaranteed issue, not convertible. No waiting period.
• Up to $10,000 (depending on age) of whole life insurance. Ages 0 to 39. POA or guardianship form allowed for insureds over age 18 provided the forms contain the legal verbiage (contact us). No waiting period currently.
• Guaranteed term life insurance, up to $50,000 of term to age 80. People ages 18 to 64. You can self-enroll here. Rates are fixed for the first 5 years and then increase based on age bands. No POA or guardianship form is required. 2-year waiting period.
• Another guaranteed issue term policy that is eligible for gainfully employed people. You can purchase $50,000.

So, you can see there are still many guaranteed issue life insurance options for those under the age of 40.

Other Options Instead Of The Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance

We would be remiss if we did not discuss other life insurance options.

More often than not, even people with moderate health conditions can find better life insurance options than guaranteed issue life insurance.

Maybe they tried 1 carrier or 1 agent, and the agent told them a guaranteed issue plan is the only option.

We work with so many carriers. It is possible a better life insurance exists.

For example, we have helped many individuals with multiple sclerosis, heart disease and other heart problems, rheumatoid arthritis, bipolar disorder, among many other conditions obtain affordable life insurance with no waiting period.

We also have helped those on parole or probation obtain life insurance, up to $150,000 in death benefit.

The type of life insurance available to you really depends on your situation as well as the severity of any health conditions.

So, before you think you need a guaranteed issue life insurance policy, it is best to really assess your situation and work with an independent agency like My Family Life Insurance. Independent agencies like us work with many life insurance carriers, We can tell you if a guaranteed life insurance policy is indeed needed in your situation.

(Almost) Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance Up To $100,000

As we discussed earlier, the guaranteed issue life insurance market has changed.

A few years back, a carrier was offering up to $100,000 term, whole life, and universal life, with no waiting period. The only parameter was that you worked in gainful employment.

However, the carrier no longer offers the life insurance. I can only suspect that sick and unhealthy people enrolled. That was not the intention of the life insurance.

As mentioned earlier, we do work with a couple of guaranteed term life insurance plans, issued up to $50,000. (So, $100,000 available in total.)

One requires you to work in gainful employment, so it is “almost” guaranteed issue life insurance for $50,000.

We mentioned the other guaranteed issue term plan earlier.

Many people could benefit from this life insurance.

If you would like to learn more about this option, feel free to contact us or refer to our article where we discuss this (almost) guaranteed issue life insurance, up to $100,000 in more detail.

Be careful what you read elsewhere. Unfortunately, some websites have out-of-date information about the “almost” guaranteed issue life insurance for $100,000.

How We Can Help You Obtain Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance For People Under Age 40

Yes, guaranteed issue life insurance is available for people under the age of 40. Do you feel you or have a loved one who could benefit?

We went through many options available to people under the age of 40.

If so, the next step is to contact us or use the form below. We can help make that determination.

Unlike other agencies, we are not beholden to one or two life insurance carriers. Only to you! I know that sounds strange. Contact us or use the form below. You won’t regret it.

If the guaranteed life insurance isn’t for your situation, at least you learned something new, and we will part as friends. Seriously! You see, we always act in your best interest. That means if something else works better in your situation, we recommend that. Even if it is something we don’t offer.